Organizations require huge human activities to achieve them and for the development of the organization. The management of an organization uses the term ‘compensation’ to denote the cost of using the human resources in the organization. There are many types of compensation according to their functions like wages, salaries, incentives, monetary benefits, etc. The compensation policy of an organization depends on various factors like government policies, skills of the employees, job conditions, risks associated with the job, etc. This article concentrates on communicating the differences between Wages and Salaries.
WAGE
‘Wage’ is the term which specifies the compensation paid to the person in return to the job he had done in the organization. The wages are given daily, weekly or fortnightly and the compensation to be paid is determined by considering the hours worked by the person. Wages are paid to the blue-collar workers who involve in technical, manual and more of a physical work.
The government prescribes a certain wage rate to the workers in every industry and the companies must follow the policies of the government in deciding the pay of the workers who are working in their companies. The wage rate is fixed based on the skill of the worker, the cost of living in the locality, the scarcity of the workers with required skill, the risks involved in the job, etc.
SALARY
Salary is the term which specifies the compensation paid to the employees of the organization in return for the contribution of an employee towards the organization. Salaries are paid to the white-collar employees, managers, professional, etc. The salaries are paid monthly or annual basis to the employees. The salary is fixed according to the qualifications, the ability of an employee to perform the job, experience, etc.
There are many benefits which the salaried employees enjoy like salary increments, incentives, promotions, bonuses, etc. which will motivate the employee to perform better and helps in developing a sense of belonging among the employees towards the organization. Some organizations pay huge salaries to their employees to attract highly talented employees to join in their organization and also for retaining the existing talent.
DIFFERENCES TABLE
| WAGE | SALARY |
|---|---|
| The wages are paid to the workers in an organization. | The salaries are paid to the employees in an organization. |
| GIVEN TO | |
| The wages are given to the people who are involved in manufacturing activities, technical, manual and physical activities. | The salaries are given to the people who are involved in administrative work like office jobs, etc. |
| PAYMENT TENURE | |
| The wages are paid daily or weekly or fortnightly based on the hours worked. | The salaries are paid monthly or annually based on the performance of an employee. |
| PAID TO | |
| The wages are the remuneration to the "Blue-Collar" workers. | The salaries are the remuneration to the "White-Collar" works. |
| EXTRA PAYMENTS | |
| The wage based workers can get extra payment if they work for additional hours. | The salary based employees cannot get extra payments for extra hours. |
| PAYMENT RATE | |
| The wage rate is not fixed throughout the period and usually, keeps on changing. | The salary is fixed at the time of joining of an employee and it won't change unless the employee gets increment. |
CONCLUSION
The wage based workers have to work daily to earn money for their livelihood and there is no paid leaves concept for daily wage earners. whereas, the salaried employees can avail paid leaves, sick leaves, perks, etc. which is a huge benefit to the salaried employees. From the above discussion, it is evident that the wages and salaries are different and cater for different needs of different people.
Updated on February 24, 2018
The terms salary and wage are often used interchangeably. Almost having the same meaning, this can be confusing at times. Moreover, employment laws do not provide specific definitions for either. While interchangeable usage of both terms may be accepted in some locations or businesses, they actually have their own meaning and are considered grammatically wrong if used improperly.
Definitions
A graph showing the real median household salary in the United States in 2014Salary is a periodic payment to an employee as a compensation for his/her performance regardless of the hours worked. It is usually a fixed amount of money paid in fixed intervals (e.g. 15th day pay, monthly payments, or in some cases, weekly payments). The fixed amount is generally a fraction of an employee’s annual pay. The said payment is usually specified in an employment contract.
Having a fixed amount of payment annually, a salary has its own drawbacks. Overtime is usually ignored and will not be compensated, regardless of how many hours are worked. Also, once salary is decided, it remains fixed throughout (unless of course the employee is given a raise or promotion).
Salary may have its own drawbacks, but it does come with its perks as well. Salary is also known to be a package, which means that employees do not only receive money as payment, but also other compensations like medical insurance, retirement fee, paid leave/vacations, educational plan, and other benefits.
Salary is usually determined through comparison of market pay rates, leveling the pay rates and salary that was established by the employer, the skill of the employee, or even the availability of people that can perform the specified job.
Wage
The minimum wages of developed economies in $/hour in 2013 In contrast to salary, a wage is generally a monetary compensation paid by an employer to an employee in regards of his/her hours worked. Instead of a compensation quoted on an annual basis, the amount paid will be based on the number of hours worked multiplied by the employee’s hourly rate. Paychecks are also received sooner than a salary, most likely a few days after the work period or when the job is done.
As with the salary, a wage does have its downside. If you leave work, you won’t get paid regardless of your reason. If you're sick or pregnant and can't get to work, you won't be paid. It means you strictly have to be present and working in order to get paid. You won’t get any paid vacations, paid sick leaves etc.
A wage may seem undesirable at this moment, but it also does have its advantages. Unlike the salary, overtime is compensated. If you work 50 hours in a week, you will receive the full 50 hours multiplied with your rate as payment. For some, the first 40 hours would be paid at your regular rate, and the excess hours would be 1.5 times your normal rate. This opportunity is usually not given to salary earners.
A wage is usually determined by the skill of the employee, availability of people that can perform the specified job, or through comparison of market pay rates.
Salary vs Wage
What’s the difference between a salary and wage? They may both pertain to the compensation for a job done, but they do differ in everything else.
Historically, manual labor jobs meant earning wages, while professional jobs meant having salaried positions. Today, they have their own meanings. Wage earners work at an hourly rate, and salary earners work at a fixed rate. Their payment cycle also differs as a salary is usually paid monthly, while a wage is usually paid soon after the work is done. If you are a salary earner, you can be considered lucky as salary earners have other benefits like insurance, paid leaves and the like. Wage earners don’t get to have these benefits but what they do get is paid overtime. They can work more than 30 or 40 hours per week and the extra hours will still be compensated. Lastly, a salary has a fixed rate, while a wage has changing rates, mostly through current market pay rates.
Comparison Chart
| Wage | |
| A fixed pay on an annual basis | A variable pay on an hourly basis |
| Payment cycle can go from 15th day, monthly, or weekly | Payment cycle is within a few days after the job is done |
| No extra pay for extra hours | Has extra pay for extra hours |
| Has benefits like paid leaves, medical insurance etc. (depending on the contract) | No benefits but can receive bonuses (depending on the employer) |
during the lunchtime\
for fifteen minutes
Prepositions for And during are close in meaning. Prepositions for since during
FOR - used with nouns or noun phrases to say how long does the action last?
- She’s going away for the weekend - She is going to leave for the whole weekend.
- I haven’t seen you for ages. - I haven't seen you for ages.
DURING - used with nouns or groups of nouns to say when something happens.
- I will see Helen during the weekend. - I'll see Elena this week.
- The children laughed a lot during the film. - The children laughed during the movie.
That is, for - duration in time, and during - when, during what.
Let's now look at a series of sentences, exercise style, inserting the prepositions for or during.
during the pregnancy\
for 9 months
1. I’m rather hungry, I’d like to go to the buffet…. the interval.
So, first let's translate: I'm pretty hungry, I'd like to go to the buffet.....break. (during, while it lasts, on) - what does this mean? Only suitable during, since nothing is said about the duration of time, but it is said exactly during what I would like to go to the buffet.
2. The family visited a number of nice places… the summer.
The family visited a number of wonderful places... summer. (during, during, during, for.) - it does not say how long it took. It is said that while it was summer, they managed to visit a number of places. So - during - during
3.Norman didn’t write to me… a long time. I thought he'd forgotten me.
Norman didn't write to me... for a long time. I thought that he had forgotten about me. - Well, the word “time” is clearly visible here, so - for . Why is during not suitable? Because it’s unclear how long Norman didn’t write to me (summer, year, honeymoon, vacation). There are no such words.
4. They met….the war and have been together ever since.
We met... during the war and have been together ever since. - How long were you together? That is during action- During the war, while the war was going on, during the war, during the war. — during
5. My friend speaks fluent English; he lived in the US... six months last year.
My friend speaks English fluently; he lived in the USA... six months last year. — Duration in time, for 6 months. for
6. It snowed heavily…the night and by the morning the world had changed.
It snowed heavily last night and by morning the world had changed. —During last evening— during
7. I’m sorry, I’m very busy this morning and can see you only… a few minutes.
Sorry, I'm very busy this morning and can only meet for a couple of minutes. - Minutes are time, during this couple of minutes - duration in time. — for
8. We have been living here…six years.
We have been living here for 6 years. - years, years - this is time. For 6 years - duration in time - for
9. …. the war the country was occupied by the enemy…a few months.
During the war, the country was occupied by enemies for several months. - 1. During the war, war is an action - during, for several months - duration in time -for
10. Mike stayed in London ... a week. …. that time he did most of the sights of the great city.
Mike stayed in London for a week. During this time he visited most of the sights of the great city.
for a week - time - for, during this time - it’s more difficult here. On the one hand, this is time. duration in time. On the other hand, this is a period of time. What to choose? The main word here is week. A week is the period of time during which Mike managed to explore all the places. It does not say how long he examined them, but not for the whole week without breaks for lunch and sleep, which means that the period of time is not suitable here. Means it matters when it happened- during this time this happened. Let's take it during.
In this article we will look at two very similar words – while (bye, while ) And meanwhile (meanwhile ), which are often mistakenly used instead of each other. Let's start with some examples and then start the discussion:
- I’ll be doing my homework while you watch TV – I will do homework while you're watching TV
- I went to a concert. Meanwhile, my friend was at a restaurant. – I went to the concert. Meanwhile my friend was in the restaurant.
From the above examples it is clear that both words are while And meanwhile - are used to indicate that two actions occur at the same time. The difference is that meanwhile unites two separate sentences one period of time, and while unites two actions in one complex sentence.
Google shortcode
Another difference is that meanwhile always worth it at the beginning of the second sentence, A while — at the beginning or in the middle of a complex sentence. Here are some more examples:
- Every day I eat breakfast while reading the newspaper - every day I eat breakfast while reading the newspaper
- While you sang, I took pictures of you - while you sang, I took a picture of you
- Mom worked all day. Meanwhile, I was at school - mom worked all day. Meanwhile, I was at school.
It should be noted that meanwhile is always separated in a sentence by a comma and is always followed by a subject. Regarding while, then it is usually followed by (verb+ing) - as in the first example - and sometimes by a subject - as in the second example.
The word while takes part in some expressions, which are, in fact, adverbs of time in a sentence:
While and while
Despite the fact that " while "is a traditional and complete synonym for " while ", in the US, using this term is considered pretentious and old-fashioned.
Meanwhile and meanwhile
"Meanwhile " is an adverb, "meantime " - a noun. Most grammatical sources indicate that the two words are interchangeable. But at the beginning of a sentence, some grammarians prefer to use " meanwhile «: Meanwhile, the dog buried the baby’s pacifier in the garden, A " meanwhile » use only as part of an expression « in the meantime«: In the meantime, the dog chewed up my last tennis ball.
